“Thunder Mountain Monument, Inlay NV (26)” by leiris202 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Located near the small town of Imlay, NV (which has a population of about 100), the Thunder Mountain Historic Site is a 5-acre park that includes a unique collection of art sculptures created by Frank Van Zant, a WWII veteran from Oklahoma. Although many spiritual, prophetic, and supernatural stories circulate about how Van Zant ended up where he did, the most likely explanation seems to be that his car broke down near Imlay and he ended up staying.
Van Zant changed his name to Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder and beginning in 1967, he constructed many buildings and sculptures from scrap materials and concrete over the course of approximately 20 years. Thunder Mountain Historic Site originally consisted of seven buildings, but today, it currently contains 3 stone and concrete buildings as well as more than 200 concrete sculptures, including one of himself, Sarah Winnemucca, and the Aztec God Quetzalcoatl. The monument was created by Chief Thunder to pay homage to the history and culture of the original inhabitants of the area.
“Thunder Mountain Monument, Inlay NV (23)” by leiris202 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Chief Thunder’s own home was a three-story house built out of bottles, concrete, and automobile windshields. Throughout the park, an assortment of items collected from a nearby junkyard such as car hoods, gas pumps, sinks, tires, typewriters, doll heads, and more are incorporated throughout the buildings and sculptures.
“Thunder Mountain Monument, Inlay NV (67)” by leiris202, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / Cropped from original
The site was partially destroyed by a series of arson fires in 1983, the same year that Chief Thunder was named Nevada’s Artist of the Year. Just six years later at the age of 69, Chief Thunder shot himself in the head. Not too long after that in 1992, the site was declared a Nevada State Historic Site. Currently, Chief Thunder’s oldest son Dan and Dan’s childhood friend Fred Lewis manage the property.
Take a look at this 360° tour of just one part of the site:
If you are looking for a unique historical filming location filled with fascinating artifacts commemorating Native American history, be sure to check out Thunder Mountain Historic Site! For more information and pictures, you can view the full Thunder Mountain Historic Site filming location details here and don’t forget to register your project!
You can also learn more about the history of Chief Thunder and Thunder Mountain Historic Site in the documentary, Visions of Paradise: The Monument of Chief Rolling Mountain Thunder (1983).